Bridesmaids is, without a doubt, the funniest movie I’ve seen all year. A lot is being made about it being the first real R-rated comedy for women, and it just may be, look at the cast and you’ll see some of the funniest women working today, and yes, women will, I’d imagine, definitely dig this on more than they have the most recent R-rated laughfests which have been unashamedly targeted at men, but that’s not to say us men won’t love every second of this film. Because we absolutely will, one that’s produced by Judd Apatow and directed by Paul Feig (who with Mr. Apatow created the classic TV show Freaks and Geeks), but that’s written by the exquisite Kristen Wiig with Annie Mumolo and that puts funny women in the forefront, and boy was that a long time coming.

It’s with good reason that a lot is being made out of Bridesmaids finally giving female comedians a shot, and the success it has had so far, both critically and commercially, will hopefully get this trend to continue, maybe even to the point in which we may get an R-rated comedy that’s also directed by a woman. Because Bridesmaids I already consider to be somewhat of a contemporary comedy classic. I knew I would like it because I’m a huge fan of Ms. Wiig from Saturday Night Live and because the women she recruited to star alongside her in the film are all just as awesome, but that it was this good I just wasn’t expecting, and if this weekend’s The Hangover Part II doesn’t live up to its hype then that’s just fine, because we already have our incredible summer comedy right here.

Ms. Wiig is the MVP of the immensely talented SNL cast, she’s the one getting nominated for Emmy’s for her work there and it’s for a reason, she’s just hugely likable and even more talented, and Bridesmaids shows that she’s an actress that should be getting offered leading roles in comedies by the dozen. Other than Tina Fey she’s probably the funniest woman in showbiz right now, and she has co-written a film so full of her impeccable style of mischievous comedy and crafted for herself a role so perfect for her that you can’t watch Bridesmaids and not be amazed by her talents.

And I love that this is a film about women, because people have long thought and said that R-rated comedies are definitely a males-only sort of thing, but here these women prove that it’s really not. We thought it was because the more racy subjects were definitely things for men, the crass humor or the fart jokes, but we mostly thought that it was because R-rated comedies dealt quite a lot with anxieties men had about women, and obviously women would never really get this point of view as successfully as men could. But then came Bridesmaids, and proved to all of us that women are just as adept about writing and presenting vulgarity, just as good at being openly funny with sex and drinks and, most importantly, every bit has as insecure as men. If Judd Apatow changed how men in comedies are perceived in the last decade, he may just have helped Ms. Wiig to do the same for women with this one.

If you’ve seen the trailer for Bridesmaids or the clips shown by the ladies as they made the promotional rounds then you’ll know the film has a scene in a plane when all the ladies are together. And the time we spend on the plane is what sets the tone for the rest of the movie, not only is everything that happens in the plane sensationally hilarious, but it also serves to show us the dynamic that will develop between these ladies throughout the film, and it helps to really win us over. We have already met the characters prior to the plane ride to Vegas for the bachelorette party, and we know that they all have very different personalities that are bound to be used to create insanely funny situations, and that’s even more true because they don’t know each other, just there because they’re all independently friends with the bride-to-be, Lillian, played by Maya Rudolph, another SNL vet.

But what’s best about Bridesmaids is that Ms. Wiig and Ms. Mumolo haven’t taken the easy way out and given us a collection of fairly predictable but still inherently funny incidents, instead they have devised a screenplay with such a sharp wit that it doesn’t play like that. Yes, the film is packed to the seams with moments that will have you laughing like crazy, but they don’t feel like they have been crafted separately, thought only to make us laugh, but rather they also serve a story, one that’s phenomenal and that will have you connecting to this group of ladies and not only laughing with them.

And this group of ladies, I’ll say it again, is truly a joy to watch. Ms. Wiig plays Annie, Lillian’s best friend and the one chosen to be maid of honor, and she’s perfect at playing this woman who’s suffering from failures both in her professional life, as her small business failed and now has to work at a job she hates, and in her personal life, as her boyfriend left her and now Annie is in a sex-only relationship with Ted who’s an asshole she hates and yet goes to get affection from. Ted, by the way, is played by the incomparable Jon Hamm, who continues to show that when he’s not rocking out the suits in Mad Men he can be extremely funny.

I urge you to see Bridesmaids, I know the posters and the title and the fact that every single character is a female will probably have a part of the male audience thinking that it’s probably more targeted to their girlfriends than to them, but trust me when I say that’s not true. This is just like any other Judd Apatow comedy, and one of the best ones at that, but this one for once gives female characters dimension, and shows us that they can be just as obscene and witty and funny as their male counterparts. I guarantee you that you’ll be laughing hard and often when you go see Bridesmaids, and you’ll enjoy how much heart this film has as well, because this film in the end is about the friendships that form between these women, and they’re portrayed by a terrific cast that have more than proven that women should be leading comedies just as much as men do.

Les Misérables is a bit too over-the-top and pompous, but it’s still seriously well-made, with a passion and energy that translates to the performances (with one critical omission) even if it doesn’t always do the same with the vocals. Read my review for it here.

Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to The Hurt Locker is an undeniable masterpiece, a film that’s both disturbing and 100% necessary, the most vital film about post-9/11 America. Read my review for it here.